David Pogue Likes The Pre!

[galavanter]

Originally Posted by nerdtalker

or "the ringer is too quiet for me" nonsense which is subjective and purely a function of factors which aren't ever repeatable.

What? Ever hear of decibels?

I returned iPhone 1 before two weeks were up primarily because from the first call I received (walking down a city street with it in a pair of sweats), I couldn't hear it ring. Believe me, even without a decibel meter it was repeatable.

There were untold numbers of threads on the Apple boards loudly complaining about this issue. I don't know if Apple ever increased the volume or not. It also didn't vibrate well either.

My BB will make me jump indoors and I can hear it outdoors as well. Vibrate is not the answer for everyone in every situation.

If Pogue says it's quiet, I believe him. He's had plenty of experience reviewing phones to know the difference.

This is one of those things I can never understand a phone maker getting wrong, it's so damn basic. I don't want zen when I get a call, I want to hear it ring.

[Enlil242]

Originally Posted by galavanter

This is one of those things I can never understand a phone maker getting wrong, it's so damn basic. I don't want zen when I get a call, I want to hear it ring.

I hear ya. I'm on call and am TRYING to get my company to pay me a stipen for my phone, instead of having me carry a blackberry as well. Two phones suck. But I can't use my iphone as I never wake up with the ringer! 3G is better, but I also set SMS alerts on my BB to wake me in case of an outage. Those scare me out of bed! LOL! I'll still get the Pre, but wish they would concentrate on the core functions before the fluff.

[Kupe]

Originally Posted by aero

The current plans don't represent the same level of discount, and the tradeoff for poorer sprint coverage in my area (DC metro) would not be compelling for me. You say you are in DC metro? Inside of downtown office buildings, hotel conference centers (which are mostly in below ground levels) etc Verizon has much better penetration.

As another DC resident, I want to echo aero's comments. I carry phones from all 4 of the bigs, every day, as a sidelight to my main job. My reward for this additional duty is I get several new phones each year from each of the big providers for free. The downside is I have more devices, their chargers, sync cables, charging stands, and adapters than most TSA folks feel comfortable passing through their xray machines!

In my travels around DC, I have mapped dozens of locations which can force phones drop their connection. The preponderance of these dropped connection regions are shared between T-Mobile and Sprint. Slightly better than those two companies is AT&T, but only for its GSM network as their 3G network is still quite spotty and fragile around here. Verizon's coverage in the region is head and shoulders above the rest. I still have a couple of "dead spots" I've charted for their network, but their network's combination of coverage, consistency, and robustness keep them in a league by themselves.

I came to this conclusion, not because I'm a Verizon shill - I'd much rather go with a company that carries newer, more capable phones, after all, I'm a tech-*****. I came to this conclusion because of what I've seen and measured and by the comments I get from other people I speak with over these phones. There's no comparison in network performance in the DC region as a whole - period.

Dave Pogue's comments about Sprint's network are right on target in my view.

[dp135]

I just got an email that links to a Questions From Readers About the Palm Pre
Personal Tech: Questions From Readers About the Palm Pre
Apologies if this was posted.

[rambo47]

Pogue's column hit the NY Times today. Interesting timing!

[dp135]

Originally Posted by rambo47

Pogue's column hit the NY Times today. Interesting timing!

His video is funny:Palm Pre Obsession
Technology Playlist - Video Library - The New York Times